Summertime & OCCTH 526

Welcome to summertime!

Our Year 2 students are currently in the field with many of you across Alberta and Saskatchewan completing their Level 2 placement. Thank you for hosting and mentoring their practical learning!

We are in the final stages of recruiting fall 2021 placements and are so appreciative of all the effort and commitment demonstrated by AB and SK OTs over the lengthy pandemic period to 'pivot' and find a way to continue supervising OT students, in person or virtually!

We hope the summer re-openings give everyone a chance to reconnect with those who matter most!

With gratitude,

Your MScOT Fieldwork Team

https://www.almanac.com/content/first-day-summer-summer-solstice#

OTPDC Virtual Conference 2021

Fall 2021 Fieldwork Placement Recruitment

Thank you to all the OTs in Alberta, Saskatchewan and beyond who have continued to supervise our students amidst ongoing pandemic circumstances! 

We greatly appreciate the number of offers that we received for OCCTH 526/Level 2 set to begin in mid-June. Students have now been matched to those offers and are appreciative, keen and very excited to be joining you across a remarkably diverse 'field' of OT practice!

We have necessarily adjusted our UofA MScOT fieldwork schedule for 2021 to cope with ongoing pandemic realities.

Please consider offering fieldwork placements for the 2021 fall placement sessions:

OCCTH 527, Level 3a:  September 7 - October 22, 2021 (or alternatively September 13 - October 29)

OCCTH 528, Level 3b/FINAL:  November 1 - December 17, 2021 (7 weeks)

Please send us your placement offers by June 1 for either session but especially for the Sept/Oct session.

You can do this by contacting our Clinical Education Administrator directly or via the typical process used by your site/practice (HSPnet, etc).

otclined@ualberta.ca

We really appreciate your contribution to OT student education!

End of OCCTH 525 & Preceptor Appreciation

Spring is just starting to show herself and OCCTH 525 has wrapped up for most Year 2/Level 1 students.

Thank you to ALL the OTs in Alberta and Saskatchewan who have continued to supervise students amidst ongoing pandemic circumstances. Every placement counts and you were each a part of the solution as we necessarily juggled placement periods in recent months!

Formal appreciation letters have been sent directly via email to the OTs who supervised students between June-Dec 2020. 

By the end of March, appreciation letters will also be sent directly via email to OTs who have supervised students since the beginning of 2021.

Please check your inboxes (including junk mail) and let us know if you should have received an appreciation letter and have not!

otclined@ualberta.ca

Each letter is personalized in PDF format so it can be saved and/or printed for your professional record. These letters can also be submitted as evidence of continuing competency activity should you choose to make student supervision a practice goal from year to year.

We really appreciate your contribution to MScOT fieldwork!

Happy New Year & Update re: 2021 Fieldwork Schedule

The UofA Department of OT respects and greatly appreciates the ongoing commitment and effort being demonstrated by individuals and agencies in order to provide occupational therapy services, including student placements, during these unprecedented circumstances.

Since June 2020, we have been proceeding with OT fieldwork placements in AB and SK where/whenever possible. With COVID-19 realities and responses escalating again recently, we have continued to consult with fieldwork sites/partners throughout our catchment area (AB, SK and the NWT) and have decided to proactively cancel the 2021 spring fieldwork session (for first year students) but continue with the 2021 summer fieldwork session.

By focusing our recruiting efforts on the placement needs of our second year cohort, who are approaching graduation, we are intentionally removing some pressure from the OT community who have ‘rallied’ to support us for many months straight during 2020.

Given these changes, the OT fieldwork schedule for 2021 is anticipated be as follows:

• OCCTH 525, Level 1 (Year 2 students): January 4 - February 19, 2021 (or any 7 weeks between January 4 - April 2)

• OCCTH 526, Level 2 (Year 2 students): June 28 - August 13, 2021 (or any 7 weeks between June 14 and August 27)

• OCCTH 527, Level 3a (Year 3 students): September 7 - October 22, 2021 (or September 13 - October 29)

• OCCTH 528, Level 3b (Year 3 students): November 1 - December 17, 2021

In January OCCTH 525 will be underway and we will be focused on recruiting placement offers for OCCTH 526 to occur during Summer 2021.

We recognize that each site continues to have their own realities, challenges and protocols/procedures in relation to this pandemic. The safety of therapists and students and the safety of clients served by occupational therapy in our AB, SK and NWT communities continues to be our top priority. We continue to revise and use our FRM Guidelines for Clinical/Fieldwork Placements During COVID-19 Pandemic to guide the process of site-screening, student screening and student preparation re: the completion of fieldwork during a pandemic.

If your OT practice is ready, and you are willing to support fieldwork placements during the pandemic, please contact the Department of OT:

otclined@ualberta.ca

We are very grateful for your ongoing support of our program and our students!

We wish you a happy and healthy new year!

Happy Holidays from the UofA MScOT Fieldwork Team!

With the overwhelming support of Alberta and Saskatchewan OTs, and the various health regions across both provinces, an impressive range of fieldwork placements occurred for our Year 3 students during fall 2020.

Your commitment to being involved in their clinical education, despite fluctuating pandemic circumstances, ensured that these students continued learning and were able to complete their MScOT program by December ... so they can become our newest colleagues in 2021!

Stay safe and continue to take care of yourself, your clients, and your loved ones during these strangest of times.

Hopefully, we will all find new and creative ways to enjoy the holidays!

C J M & D

World OT Day & OT Month!

Join WFOT in celebrating World OT Day 2020!

Join CAOT in promoting OT Month in Canada!

Our sincere thanks to all the AB, SK and NWT OTs who offer fieldwork placements session to session and support the education of our UofA OT students ... the future of our dynamic profession!